Child Protection in Iceland
and the role of the
Government Agency for Child Protection
Introduction:
According to the Icelandic Child Protection Law, the main objective of child protection is to ensure that children (defined as individuals under the age of 18) are raised in satisfactory conditions. This is to be accomplished by strengthening the nurturing role of the family and by applying remedies to protect individual children when appropriate. The guiding principle of all child protection work should be to follow a course of action which can be expected to prove to result in the best interests of the child.
The Ministry of Social Affairs is the ultimate authority in matters of child protection. On behalf of the Ministry, the Government Agency for Child Protection is in charge of day-to-day administration of child protection services. The basic unit for child protection in Iceland is the child protection committee which is responsible for child protection services at the local level.
According to the law, each local authority is required to maintain a Child Protection Committee (CPA) composed of five members. However, the law encourages cooperation between local authorities and joint election of CPA, especially in smaller communities. There are 124 local authorities in Iceland, the majority of which have a very small population, e.g. are about 50 with less than 200 inhabitants. A number of these have jointly elected their CPA, bringing the total number of committees down to 55.
Due to the large number of CPAs and the small populations they represent, the services they can render are limited, with the exception of Reykjavik where the population is over one hundred thousand. This is the reason why the Government Agency for Child Protection is responsible for all specialized services in the child protection area.
The CPAs have two primary functions: to be supportive to the family in accordance with the main objectives of the law while retaining coercive powers which enables them to supplant custodial rights of parents and remove the child from the home if determined necessary for the well-being of the child. This twofold role has been criticised and the law is now being revised with the aim of limiting the coercive powers of CPAs to temporary intervention in acute situations. The decision making powers will be invested in the judiciary, at the district court level and with avenues of appeal to the supreme court.
In an overwhelming majority of cases, cooperation between the CPA and parents is established for the benefit of the child. There are, however, cases that are not easily resolved. An average of 10- 15 cases annually result in coercive termination of parental rights. Decisions made by CPA that are of a coercive nature can be referred to the National Council for Child Protection which acts as the final executive authority in child protection cases. If it’s rulings are disputed, they can be referred to the judicial system in accordance with the European Convention of Human Rights.
CPA deals with more than 2300 referrals each year. At the risk of oversimplification, these cases can be classified into two groups. On one hand are cases of child abuse and neglect by parents who typically suffer from psychiatric and emotional problems and/or substance abuse On the other hand are cases where the child itself, normally an adolescent, is threatening his/her own well being with self-destructive behaviour, such as alcohol and drug abuse and delinquency.
The primary role of the Government Agency for Child Protection is to co-ordinate and strengthen child protection work. By law it is required to:
1. offer instruction and council to Child Protection Committees at the local level with regard to family welfare and the management of child protection cases,
2. monitor the work of Child Protection Committees, through the review of annual reports and other means to be determined,
3. supervise and monitor institutions and homes operated or supported by the government for children and youth,
4. assist Child Protection Committees in finding suitable foster parents,
5. support research and development work in the area of child protection,
6. provide education and instruction concerning child protection
The Government Agency for Child Protection is also responsible for the operation of specialized services in child protection. There are two principal services in operation: a centre for investigation of child sexual abuse cases and treatment facilities for children and youth.
The Children’s House: Centre
for Child Sexual Abuse
The Children’s House is a child friendly, interdisciplinary and multiagency centre whereby different professionals work under one roof in the investigation of child sexual abuse cases.
The basic concept behind the Children’s House is to prevent subjecting the child to repeated interviews by many agencies in different locations. Research has shown that when this happens it can be very traumatic for the child and may result in “revictimization”, or the generation of even more severe effects than the abuse itself.
In the Children’s House the child is interviewed in a special room by a trained investigative interviewer. The interview is observed in a another room by a judge, who is formally in charge of the procedure, a social worker from the child protection authorities, the police, the prosecution, defence attorneys and the child’s advocate. The interview is videotaped and can be used in court at the main proceedings. This arrangement makes it possible in most cases only to conduct only one interview with the child.
After the interview the child can be provided with medical examination in the on-side medical clinic. The findings are documented by paediatricians through the use of a colposcope, state-of-the-art equipment that records the examination on videotape.
The Children’s House also provides treatment services for child victims of sexual abuse and their families. A diagnosis is made of the child for therapeutic purposes. Then an individual treatment plan is created.
The Agency is responsible for nine institutions and treatment homes for children with behavioural and emotional problems, delinquency (acting out, criminality) and substance abuse. One of these facilities is the State Diagnostic Centre for Adolescents, which provides diagnosis and short term treatment for youth . On the basis of the diagnosis, a decision is made as to whether the youth can return to his/her family or needs a long term treatment.
The remaining eight facilities provide long-term treatment. Typically they are in household settings where professionals live with no more than six children. These facilities are to a certain degree specialized to serve the needs of different types of problems that the children are facing. Thus, there are two facilities that specialize in substance abuse treatment, one in criminality cases and so forth.
Long term treatment facilities are for the most part in pleasant rural surroundings and some are situated on farms. Besides individual as well as group therapy, a major responsibility is providing education. Other areas of emphasis are healthy leisure activities such as horseback riding and fishing, as well as participating in farming work or taking on other responsibilities.